Seizing the Opportunity
by FluffleNuff
Summary: Shino hasn't had a chance to let Tenten know how he feels about her, and he's afraid that he never will. ShinoTen Oneshot.


He hardly knew her. Wait, who was he kidding. SHE hardly knew HIM. Shino knew almost everything about Tenten, from the way she fought (he knew her strengths and weaknesses) to what colours she liked (light purple, not pink, purple.) He gatheres all these information just by watching. He didn't need to do much, well, stalking, just by plain observation, these things were obvious. However, although he knew so much about her, he never once mustered up the courage to talk to her. For all he knew, she didn't even know that he existed.

There were alot of opportunities when he could have just gone up and talked to her, but he just kept backing out of them. No way was he just going to saunter up to the girl of his dreams and just go, "Hey how's it going?" She'd probably just back away screaming, calling him a freak. That's how girls usually react to him.

He looked up as she continued her training alongside Neji and Lee. How often had he wished that he could be closer to her, on the same squad, to have the chance to know her better. Although he loved his teammates, he often longed that he was a year older, placed in the same squad as she was.

He had not shared his secret liking of Tenten with anyone else, although he did ask Hinata if it were weird for her to date a younger guy. Hinata just pursed her lips and mused that she would be more than willing to do so if she really loved him and he really loved her. Shino was slightly devastated at this comment, as although he believed that he truly loved Tenten, he was unsure if she could ever love him back. He just had to wait, wait for the right opportunity, to get close to Tenten and show her how much he truly loved her.

* * *

That opportunity finally arrived, on a quiet Sunday morning where his parasitic insects detected no other ninja around, where Tenten was training alone. He watched as she struck every single target she laid for herself, but failed at taijutsu against her own shadow clone. Shino desperately wanted to go up and help her, train her, but he was afraid. Afraid of rejection. It was safer, he decided, to stay in the shadows, to watch and admire her from afar, then to risk all his dreams being shattered.

"You know, if you don't try, you won't know." Shino jumped. He was so deep in thought that he did not notice Hinata watching Tenten train along with him.

"I...I..." he tried to think of an excuse for spying on a fellow ninja, but came up with none.

"Shino, it's alright. I know that you like her. I've guessed ever since you dropped me that question. Don't worry, it's not like she's a full year older than you. It's just a month. Go on, seize the opportunity. Before its too late."

Shino showed no emotion at Hinata's words, but pondered. What were the pros and cons? What was his probability of being rejected? He was about to tell Hinata that no, he wouldn't do it, but her words rang in his ears. He would be taking a real risk, a gamble even, and that was not what Shino Aburamae did. But this was about Tenten, and therefore a risk he must take. "Alright." he said, then stood up, walking towards Tenten.

* * *

"You're more accustomed to Long-distance combat, but that does not mean that your taijutsu must suffer. You're leaving too many openings in your defence, and this would allow your opponents to overpower you. You should work on that first."

Shino's eyes scanned Tenten's face, his heart pounding. He searched for any sign of delight or happiness that would ease his hopeful's wants. Instead, he only found astonishment, as if Tenten was thinking, he actually talks?! He sighed. This was not going well.

"Shino? I mean," Tenten cleared her throat. "Shino Aburamae? I'm Tenten." She stuck out her hand formally, as if waiting for a handshake. Shino wanted to cry. Did he really seem that stoic and unnaproachable? Well, at least she knew his name. He merely raised an eyebrow at her outstretched hand and gestured toward the training grounds. "Shall I show you what I mean?" Tenten nodded appreciatively.

As they took up their taijutsu stances, Shino admired the determined look in Tenten's warm, brown eyes. "Attack me. I won't use my insects, it's an unfair advantage."

Tenten's head shot up. "Don't you dare go easy on me, Shino Aburamae. If you really want me to improve, then you'd better use all you've got!"

Shino was surprised, yet happy. Tenten was just getting more and more admirable. "Alright then. Let's begin."

"HYAAH!" Tenten grabbed a kunai and lunged it toward his chest, but he quickly grabbed her wrist, twisted it slightly and unbalanced her.

"When you attack with Kunai, you lean on your right side, the side that you are attacking with, shifting your weight there and making it easy for me to unbalance you."

Tenten got up, nodded and tried again. This time, she put her weight on her left side, but Shino simply hit her in the stomach, causing her to crumple to the ground.

"Your turning too far away from your opponent, leaving your abdomen exposed to attack."

Tenten grit her teeth and continued to attack him, and he easily retaliated while patiently pointing out her mistakes. They continued until sunset, where Shino started to struggle to overpower Tenten and had to use his insects to help.

Once they were done, Tenten asked, "Hey... Shino? Thanks for helping me today."

"Hn? No problem."

"Would you be able to train with me soon?"

Shino's heart went into overdrive. Did she enjoy herself? "Sure... Why though?"

"You're patient, kind and you've taught me so much!"

"I have?"

"Yeah, that I have to work on my defence so that others won't take advantage of the opportunity I'm giving them!"

"Well, sometimes, seizing the opportunity is good as well."

"Well, yeah, when you're attacking. So... see you tomorrow?"

"Okay."

As Shino watched her back as she walked home, he smiled to himself. Yes, seizing the opportunity was good. Not only when attacking.

A/N: Whee! Hoped you liked that! Thanks for reading! :D


End file.
